I am wearing my Marklee jersey.
The Louleigh Community is chatting about the Advent Mini Skein Swap, our Ankle Sock Knit Along, and the Magnificent Louleigh Yoke Along.
The projects I mention are my Ankle Socks With Pinstripes, Ultra-light Ankle Socks, the Playdate Cardigan, and my Guthrie cardigan.
Today I’m launching my new Easy Nesting Buckets, and Easy Drawstring Bag sewing pattern bundle. Use the coupon code BUCKETS25 for 25% off all my sewing patterns until 23 June.
While I was at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival this year Jennie (Owl About Yarn) and Zoe (Pins and Needles) revealed their latest woolly adventure. We’d all arrived early for a breakfast meet up, and they thrust a couple of swatches into my hands and told me all about their adventure in creating an all Welsh yarn. They both live in the south of Wales, and had noted a dearth of Welsh yarn. These women are not the types to idle, and went straight to work to create Cartref Yarn. They very kindly sent me a generous sample to test drive.
Yarn weight Double Knitting; Skein weight 100 g; Length 205 m; Fibre content 66% Welsh Mule, 33% Bluefaced Leicester; No. of plys 3; Spun in Wales
Recently I’ve been knitting with yarns that are light, lofty, and full of air. By comparison Cartref Yarn feels much more dense and weighty. When it arrived the yarn felt crisp, and the skeins had a lot of rebound when I squashed them. It’s not a soft yarn. The word that springs to mind is robust.
This is the first time I’ve been sent a sample large enough to actually make something. The pattern is a modified version of Paddle by Tin Can Knits. Mitts turned out to be the perfect test swatch. I wore them all day, every day, for five days; which made for a pretty good wear test. I’d swatched on 3.75 mm needles, and got a gauge of 22 stitches and 32 rows over 10 cm.
Mitts after five days of wear, and before wash number three.
The mitts didn’t change shape at all with washing. I hand washed them three times with Woolly Wash, and the gauge didn’t change it all. They did soften a little in the last wash, but there wasn’t the significant transformation between the yarn in the skein, and the washed mitts.
I wore the mitts almost constantly throughout the day, whilst working at my computer, sewing, dog walking, and gardening. They did get damp, and by day five there was some minor pilling on the palm; however the yarn has great memory and the mitts sprang right back into shape with washing.
I think Cartref Yarn would make a great outdoor garment. It’s doesn’t have a lot of drape, and would hold a tailored design really nicely. Any textured elements, such as ribbing or cables, would be well defined. Personally, I found it to prickly to wear next to my neck, but it was fine against my forehead and bare arms. And I love the colour pallet that Jennie and Zoe have created. There’s a colour that will speak to most folk, and some options for colourwork.
This week I’m wearing my Scout Tee.
We have three knit alongs running in the Louleigh Ravelry group. Please come and join us.
The projects I’m chatting about are Guthrie, the A-Frame Skirt, Ankle Socks With Pinstripes, Ultra-Light Ankle Socks, Featherweight Cardigan, and Playdate Cardigan.
Finally, I review Cartref Yarn.
In this episode I’m wearing my Marklee jersey.
The Ankle Socks With Pinstripes pattern is available now in my Ravelry store. The pattern is half price until 24 May 2019. I used a beautiful socks set from Lay Family Yarn.
Quarter 3 for the Advent Mini Skein Swap is open now.
Today I’m showing off my finished Pebbles and Pathways socks, and a pair of afterthought everything socks.
I also talk about The Hairy Man’s socks in West Yorkshire Spinners yarn, Opal yarn, and hand dyed yarn; and chat about his favourite fitting socks. I mention the Fish Lips Kiss pattern, and Kate Atherley’s book ‘Custom Socks’.
Finally I review my sock blockers from Succaplokki, Yarnistry, and Woodico.
Today I’m wearing a Scout Tee made using some cotton fabric purchased ages ago from Ikea.
The Louleigh commuknitty is currently counting down to the Quarter 2 Advent Mini Skein Swap, and enjoying the Magnificent Louleigh Yoke Along.
Today I talk about my Marklee Jersey, fitting a Scout Tee, the Guthrie cardigan, planning an A Frame skirt, and swatching for a Featherweight cardi.
I am wearing Treysta, and the Chicanery curl shawl. The wee shawl pin that I usually use with this shawl is from Beyond Measure, and I made the shawl woggle using a video by JewelryTuturialHQ.
In the Louleigh Ravelry group we’re talking about the Magnificent Louleigh Yoke Along, and you can join in the Advent Mini-skein Swap for quarter 2.
I’m working on the Pebbles and Pathways socks, Ankle Socks With Pinstripes, and a new sock design using the Passenger yarn from Phileas Yarns. I’ve also been sewing the Scout Tee.
This week I’m wearing an aran cardigan that my mother knitted.
The Louleigh community has been getting really excited about yokes. Come and join the Magnificent Louleigh Yoke Along. #knit1000g closes on 20 March. Don’t forget to update your posts to be in with a chance in the prize draw. I’m really forward to meeting some of you at the Rabbie’s Cafe meet up in Edinburgh.
I’ve been working on Bovertun and Marklee. This week I also review De Rerum Natura Gilliatt.
I’ve been putting off writing this review because I just didn’t know what to say about the yarn. The very few words I do have to say about De Rerum Natura’s Gilliatt aren’t going to fill up much space; however, it is a yarn that I really want to share with you, so lets just crack on with the vital statistics.
Yarn weight Worsted; Skein weight 100 g; Length 250 m; Recommended tension 17 – 19 stitches over 10 cm; Recommended needle 4 – 5 mm needles; Fibre content European Merino; No. of plys 3; Spun in France.
Gilliatt doesn’t feel like any other merino that I’ve squished in the ball. It’s not as finely spun as other merino yarns I’ve encountered. The yarn looks plump, round, and woolly; and the ball rebounds as I squish it in my hand. It’s not super soft either. You aren’t going to pick this up and coo over it, but it is pleasant to the touch.
Swatch knitted of 4 mm needles after one wash.
I knitted two swatches with 4 and 5 mm needles, and ended up with a gauge of 18.5 stitches x 30 rows and 17 stitches x 26 rows over 10 cm. Both fabrics look great. This plump yarn expands out in to the space around it, so the fabric still looks full and opaque at a looser gauge. On smaller needles, the knitted fabric still has a nice movement to it. I wouldn’t say that either swatch has drape, but they do have a nice movement to them.
It’s worth mentioning that I didn’t experience any prickle factor while wearing my swatches. I’ve knitted the Furrow Hat with it, and haven’t experienced any prickling or itchiness against my forehead. I didn’t notice the swatch when tucked into my neckband either.
Swatch knitted on 5 mm needles after two washes and two weeks of armpit testing.
This is the bit where I run out of words for this yarn. I proceeded to the wear test, when the swatch gets tucked in to my bra at the armpit, and stays there for a few days. The 5 mm swatch spent a week in close proximity to my perspiring armpit – no change. So I washed it again, and tucked it in to my bra for another week, then hand washed it again. Still no change. Oh, sorry, it’s a teeny tiny bit softer. That is all.
So how would I describe this yarn? Stable. And that is something I like in a yarn. If you’re going to take the time to knit a garment, you really want it to maintain it’s looks for a long time. I think Gilliatt would. At £11 it’s a high quality mid-range yarn. I liked it a lot, and very badly want to make myself a garment with it.
This week I’m wearing Treysta.
The Louleigh community has been chatting about #knit1000g, the Advent Mini Skein Swap, and The Magnificent Yoke Along.
I’ve been knitting socks! Hairy Man Socks, Pebbles and Pathways Socks, and an afterthought everything sock tube.
I’ve been reading ‘The New Animals’ by Pip Adam, and my focus project for the coming week is Bovertun.
This week I’m wearing Enchanted Mesa.
I will be attending the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. If you’d like to join me for breakfast at Rabbie’s Cafe, there are details in the Louleigh Ravelry Group.
Sign ups for Quarter 1 of the Advent Mini Skein Swap will close on Monday 11 February.
Currently I’m working on Bovertun and Marklee.
